IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v74y2015icp209-219.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Barriers to Political Analysis in Aid Bureaucracies: From Principle to Practice in DFID and the World Bank

Author

Listed:
  • Yanguas, Pablo
  • Hulme, David

Abstract

Politics has become a central concern in development discourse, and yet the use of political analysis as a means for greater aid effectiveness remains limited and contested within development agencies. This article uses qualitative data from two governance “leaders” – the United Kingdom Department for International Development and the World Bank – to analyze the administrative hurdles facing the institutionalization of political analysis in aid bureaucracies. We find that programing, management, and training practices across headquarters and country offices remain largely untouched by a political analysis agenda which suffers from its identification with a small cross-national network of governance professionals.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanguas, Pablo & Hulme, David, 2015. "Barriers to Political Analysis in Aid Bureaucracies: From Principle to Practice in DFID and the World Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 209-219.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:209-219
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.05.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15001187
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.05.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wil Hout, 2012. "The Anti-Politics of Development: donor agencies and the political economy of governance," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 405-422.
    2. Winters, Matthew S. & Martinez, Gina, 2015. "The Role of Governance in Determining Foreign Aid Flow Composition," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 516-531.
    3. Levy, Brian, 2014. "Working with the Grain: Integrating Governance and Growth in Development Strategies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199363810, Decembrie.
    4. James Copestake & Richard Williams, 2014. "Political-Economy Analysis, Aid Effectiveness and the Art of Development Management," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(1), pages 133-153, January.
    5. Andrews,Matt, 2013. "The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107016330.
    6. Lebovic, James H., 2014. "The Millennium Challenge Corporation: Organizational Constraints on US Foreign Aid, 2004–11," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 116-129.
    7. David Booth, 2011. "Aid, Institutions and Governance: What Have We Learned?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 29, pages 5-26, January.
    8. Jack S. Levy, 2008. "Case Studies: Types, Designs, and Logics of Inference," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 25(1), pages 1-18, February.
    9. Alex Duncan & Gareth Williams, 2012. "Making Development Assistance More Effective Through Using Political‐economy Analysis: What Has Been Done and What Have We Learned?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 30(2), pages 133-148, March.
    10. Haas, Peter M., 1992. "Introduction: epistemic communities and international policy coordination," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 1-35, January.
    11. Ghosh, Anirban & Kharas, Homi, 2011. "The Money Trail: Ranking Donor Transparency in Foreign Aid," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1918-1929.
    12. Vestergaard, Jakob & Wade, Robert H., 2013. "Protecting Power: How Western States Retain The Dominant Voice in The World Bank’s Governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 153-164.
    13. Devi Sridhar & Ngaire Woods, 2013. "Trojan Multilateralism: Global Cooperation in Health," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4(4), pages 325-335, November.
    14. Brautigam, Deborah A & Knack, Stephen, 2004. "Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 255-285, January.
    15. Kilby, Christopher, 2011. "What Determines the Size of Aid Projects?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1981-1994.
    16. Knack, Stephen & Rogers, F. Halsey & Eubank, Nicholas, 2011. "Aid Quality and Donor Rankings," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1907-1917.
    17. Easterly, William & Williamson, Claudia R., 2011. "Rhetoric versus Reality: The Best and Worst of Aid Agency Practices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1930-1949.
    18. Hickey, Sam, 2013. "Beyond the Poverty Agenda? Insights from the New Politics of Development in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 194-206.
    19. Henson, Spencer & Lindstrom, Johanna, 2013. "“A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep”? Understanding Public Support for Aid: The Case of the United Kingdom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 67-75.
    20. Bertin Martens, 2005. "Why Do Aid Agencies Exist?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 23(6), pages 643-663, November.
    21. Humphrey, Chris & Michaelowa, Katharina, 2013. "Shopping for Development: Multilateral Lending, Shareholder Composition and Borrower Preferences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 142-155.
    22. Laura Routley & David Hulme, 2013. "Donors, development agencies and the use of political economic analysis: getting to grips with the politics of development?," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-019-13, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    23. Nelson, Joan M., 1996. "Promoting policy reforms: The twilight of conditionality?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(9), pages 1551-1559, September.
    24. Verena Fritz & Kai Kaiser & Brian Levy, 2009. "Problem-Driven Governance and Political Economy Analysis : Good Practice Framework," World Bank Publications - Reports 16777, The World Bank Group.
    25. Pablo Yanguas, 2014. "Leader, Protester, Enabler, Spoiler: Aid Strategies and Donor Politics in Institutional Assistance," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(3), pages 299-312, May.
    26. Haley J. Swedlund, 2013. "From Donorship To Ownership? Budget Support And Donor Influence In Rwanda And Tanzania," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(5), pages 357-370, December.
    27. Nilima Gulrajani, 2014. "Organising for Donor Effectiveness: An Analytical Framework for Improving Aid Effectiveness," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(1), pages 89-112, January.
    28. Sue Unsworth, 2009. "What's politics got to do with it?: Why donors find it so hard to come to terms with politics, and why this matters," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(6), pages 883-894.
    29. Goran Hyden, 2008. "After the Paris Declaration: Taking on the Issue of Power," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 26(3), pages 259-274, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Niheer Dasandi & Ed Laws & Heather Marquette & Mark Robinson, 2019. "What Does the Evidence Tell Us about ‘Thinking and Working Politically’ in Development Assistance?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 155-168.
    2. Pablo Yanguas, 2016. "The role and responsibility of foreign aid in recipient political settlements," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-056-16, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Sam Hickey & Jeremy Seekings, 2017. "The global politics of social protection," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-115, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Zhang, Liyunpeng & Li, Xiao & Zhuang, Yuhang & Li, Ningning, 2022. "World Bank aid and local multidimensional poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Ho, Shan-Ju, 2022. "Financial aid and financial inclusion: Does risk uncertainty matter?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Jaime Moreno-Serna & Teresa Sánchez-Chaparro & Leda Stott & Javier Mazorra & Ruth Carrasco-Gallego & Carlos Mataix, 2021. "Feedback Loops and Facilitation: Catalyzing Transformational Multi-Stakeholder Refugee Response Partnerships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.
    7. Terence Wood, 2018. "The clientelism trap in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and its impact on aid policy," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 481-494, September.
    8. Niheer Dasandi & Edward Laws & Heather Marquette & Mark Robinson, 2019. "What does the evidence tell us about 'thinking and working politically' in development assistance?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-12, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Gulrajani, Nilima, 2017. "Bilateral Donors and the Age of the National Interest: What Prospects for Challenge by Development Agencies?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 375-389.
    10. Sam Hickey & Jeremy Seekings, 2017. "The global politics of social protection," WIDER Working Paper Series 115, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Gautier, Lara & Tosun, Jale & De Allegri, Manuela & Ridde, Valéry, 2018. "How do diffusion entrepreneurs spread policies? Insights from performance-based financing in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 160-175.
    12. Alexandra O. Zeitz, 2021. "Emulate or differentiate?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 265-292, April.
    13. Yanguas, Pablo, 2021. "What have we learned about learning? Unpacking the relationship between knowledge and organisational change in development agencies," IDOS Discussion Papers 9/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pablo Yanguas, 2016. "The role and responsibility of foreign aid in recipient political settlements," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-056-16, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Liya Palagashvili & Claudia R. Williamson, 2021. "Grading foreign aid agencies: Best practices across traditional and emerging donors," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 654-676, May.
    3. Andrews, Matt & Pritchett, Lant & Woolcock, Michael, 2017. "Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198747482, Decembrie.
    4. Wil Hout & Lydeke Schakel, 2014. "SGACA: The Rise and Paradoxical Demise of a Political-Economy Instrument," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(5), pages 611-630, September.
    5. Gordon D Cumming, 2017. "A Prototypical Case in the Making? Challenging Comparative Perspectives on French Aid," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 19-36, January.
    6. Brett, Edwin, 2020. "The development and challenges of aid relationships: where is international aid heading?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106557, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. E. A. Brett, 2020. "The Development and Challenges of Aid Relationships: Where Is International Aid Heading?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(02), pages 22-26, July.
    8. Matt Andrews & Lant Pritchett & Michael Woolcock, 2016. "Scaling PDIA through Broad Agency, and Your Role," CID Working Papers 315, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    9. Matthew Dornan, 2017. "How new is the ‘new’ conditionality? Recipient perspectives on aid, country ownership and policy reform," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35, pages 46-63, July.
    10. Hassen Abda Wako, 2018. "Aid, institutions and economic growth in sub†Saharan Africa: Heterogeneous donors and heterogeneous responses," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 23-44, February.
    11. Duncan Leitch, 2019. "Leaving like an Englishman: Assisting institutional reform in post‐communist Ukraine," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(1), pages 111-128, January.
    12. Strand, Jonathan R. & Zappile, Tina M., 2015. "Always Vote for Principle, Though You May Vote Alone: Explaining United States Political Support for Multilateral Development Loans," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 224-239.
    13. Molenaers, Nadia & Dellepiane, Sebastian & Faust, Jorg, 2015. "Political Conditionality and Foreign Aid," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 2-12.
    14. Matt Andrews & Lant Pritchett & Michael Woolcock, 2016. "Doing Iterative and Adaptive Work," CID Working Papers 313, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    15. Gulrajani, Nilima, 2017. "Bilateral Donors and the Age of the National Interest: What Prospects for Challenge by Development Agencies?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 375-389.
    16. Han, Lu & Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, 2015. "Aid Fragmentation or Aid Pluralism? The Effect of Multiple Donors on Child Survival in Developing Countries, 1990–2010," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 344-358.
    17. Kelly Gerard, 2023. "Doing aid chains differently: Evaluating the potential of Multi‐Stakeholder Partnerships," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(1), January.
    18. Catherine Long, 2017. "Delegated Service Authority: Institutional Evolution of PEPFAR Health-Based Program Implementing Units in Tanzania," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(3), pages 303-312, September.
    19. Reinsberg,Bernhard Wilfried & Michaelowa,Katharina & Knack,Stephen, 2015. "Which donors, which funds ? the choice of multilateral funds by bilateral donors at the World Bank," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7441, The World Bank.
    20. Niheer Dasandi & Ed Laws & Heather Marquette & Mark Robinson, 2019. "What Does the Evidence Tell Us about ‘Thinking and Working Politically’ in Development Assistance?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 155-168.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:209-219. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.